Using a non-sinusoidal waveform for the highest partial fills in upper harmonics when oscillator count is limited

In a resource-limited additive synthesis context, replacing the highest partial’s sine oscillator with a pulse or sawtooth wave provides a low-cost way to fill in harmonics above the explicitly modelled range. Because non-sinusoidal waves contain many harmonics above their fundamental, a single oscillator substituting for the topmost partial automatically provides a dense cloud of upper harmonics at no extra DSP cost. Without it, the sound would be dull and lacking in sparkle. The textbook applies this in a 5-voice Nord Modular patch where the fifth partial is a pulse generator.

Examples

Nord Modular 5-voice additive patch: partials 1-4 use slave sine oscillators; partial 5 uses a pulse generator. The pulse provides harmonics 5, 10, 15… automatically, giving the patch brightness that pure sines would lack.

Assessment

In a 6-partial additive patch with limited DSP, where would you place the non-sinusoidal partial and why? What waveform would you choose and what harmonics would it contribute?